Community Relations Milestones in 1997
January
January 1997 was a month of distributions to arts and culture organizations. Battelle renewed its annual sponsorship to the Tri-Cities Corporate Council for the Arts; made the second and last payment toward a new Nutcracker set for the Mid-Columbia Ballet; and sponsored a lecture by Dale Chihuly, a world-renowned blown glass artist, when his Baskets were on display in the Tri-Cities. Our membership in the Partnership for Learning was renewed and the membership in the Clallam County Economic Development Council was continued. A significant property donation occurred in January when four double-wide mobile office trailers and miscellaneous furniture were transferred to Heritage College.
February
We continued, above and beyond our larger corporate distribution, to help the United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties with operating costs such as advertisements, office supplies, etc. From our Director's Community Relations budget, we partnered with Hanford contractors to provide funds to the Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science and Technology (CREHST), a regional museum being established in Richland. From the same budget, we provided corporate sponsorship for a legislative reception organized by the Association of Washington Business, and renewed our membership in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
March
March is Science Fair month, and our distribution to the Mid-Columbia Science Fair Association indirectly supported many staff who volunteer their time for the event. Another education distribution provided corporate support for the Expanding Your Horizons Through Math and Science conference at Washington State University Tri-Cities. The Battelle Staff Association strategy to maintain and auction Battelle-owned art to staff in order to fund new art purchases hadn't been fully implemented so the Committee honored a prior commitment to make a purchase during Columbia Basin College's Winter Art Show. The Director's budget was used for the purchase. That budget also funded our annual membership in the Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce.
April
April is the month in which many organizations begin annual fund-raising activities in earnest. The Director's Community Relations budget supported the March of Dimes' WalkAmerica and provided corporate sponsorship to the Tri-City Cougar Club for the Cougar Classic as well as its season football ticket/scholarship package. That budget also renewed Battelle membership in The Nature Conservancy. The membership was packaged with the first of three distributions to The Nature Conservancy that resulted in the formation of the Partners for Arid Lands Stewardship, an environmental science collaboration involving Battelle, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy and schools and students. Education benefited again with a distribution to the University of Washington for a women's science program. In the area of community/economic activities, Battelle once again was a Renaissance sponsor of the Tri-City Industrial Development Council (TRIDEC). The Director's budget funded a table at the Tri-Citian of the Year award banquet, and supported Hanford and the Fast Flux Test Facility by purchasing a table at the FFTF Appreciation Dinner organized by the Northwest Action Center of the Eagle Alliance. That budget also funded Battelle membership in the Washington Council on International Trade. It funded membership and support for a corporate meeting of the Technology Alliance of Washington, as well as event sponsorship for PNBE '97, a regional technology conference. Heritage College's annual fund raiser was supported as was a golf tournament benefiting Our Lady of Lourdes Foundation.
A major education grant continued with the third of five payments toward an endowed Professorship of Microbiology at Washington State University. Also involving Washington State University was support for a team to enter the 7th Annual International Collegiate Environmental Design contest. The team came in second! One of the more intriguing distributions went to the Washington Software Foundation and resulted in awards to teachers for innovation in computer technology in classrooms. We renewed corporate support to CONTACT Helpline, a health and human services organization in the Tri-Cities.
May
Battelle co-sponsored with other community organizations the Nike Pro-Am. A golf tournament benefiting Tri-Cities Crimestoppers, an organization to which many of our staff volunteer support, also was sponsored. When it became apparent that the WalkAmerica goal, despite energetic volunteer efforts by staff, would not be achieved, Distributions supplemented the original corporate contribution. Contributions for community benefit were made via the Richland Chamber of Commerce for the Small Business Commerce Award and Student Business Day, as well as renewing our membership in the Chamber.
Education was supported with our annual distribution to Junior Achievement of the Greater Tri-Cities. The Tri-Cities Corporate Council for the Arts received a supplement toward its 1997 goal. The health and human services' budget funded a distribution to the Wishing Star Foundation and provided a small supplement to Our Lady of Lourdes Foundation's fund raiser. Civic and community relations once again funded a distribution to the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Laboratory in Sequim for its newsletter.
The Director's budget provided corporate support to the Consular Corps of Washington state for its annual reception.
June
The arts and culture budget positioned Battelle as the major corporate sponsor of First Night Tri-Cities with its only distribution in the month of June. June fund raisers included a golf tournament benefiting Tri-Cities Prep and a table at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Foundation gala. Battelle's memberships in the Seattle and Kennewick Chambers of Commerce were renewed, as was the Science, Technology and Manufacturing Association membership in Sequim.
July
Two fund raisers were supported from the Director's Budget—the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and the Sexual Assault Response Center in Richland.
August
The Director's budget funded a supplement to the Nike Pro-Am Golf Tournament as well as staff participation in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's marathon. Battelle renewed its corporate support to Leadership Tri-Cities, an organization that provides community leadership training (one staff member participates each year). The Director's budget also sponsored a ribbon-cutting event at CREHST and coffee breaks at two University of Washington conferences.
September
Several significant education distributions were made in September. They included the first of two to Tri-Cities Prep to develop a science laboratory in its new building, and four to regional elementary schools for science education teaching aids and support. One education distribution went to Heritage College to sponsor its collaboration with the Alliance for Advancement of Science through Astronomy (AASTA) for a Native American cultural teaching program. Another education distribution went to the Seattle Audubon Society for an urban science program. The Richland and Seattle education distribution budgets supported the Washington State Science Teacher Association conference in Bellevue.
The Director's budget provided corporate support to the City of Richland's Earth Day '98 as well as to the Liberty Christian School's Corporate Good Neighbor program that sought support when it moved into a new building after a fire.
October
Battelle became a corporate sponsor of the Washington Commission for the Humanities because of its state-wide lecture series "Inquiring Mind," many of which are presented in the Tri-Cities. We renewed our corporate support of the Seattle Corporate Council for the Arts and made the second of two payments to the Mid-Columbia Ballet for its Nutcracker set.
November
November saw the start of our annual United Way distributions. In addition to generous personal staff contributions, Battelle distributed $105,000 to the United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties as well as $5,500 to the United Way of Clallam County.
December
Battelle's membership in the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau was renewed and we became a major corporate sponsor of the 1998 Nike Pro-Am Tri-Cities Open. The first of two payments to support Battelle Night at the Opera was made to the Mid-Columbia Symphony. Battelle once again demonstrated its promotion of education programs and reform in the state of Washington with corporate support to the Partnership for Learning and to the Alliance for Education. Specific to Seattle education, the Seattle Community for Youth at Risk was supported as was the Northwest School for Hearing Impaired Children. Also in Seattle, the Chicken Soup Brigade, an organization that provides food to the needy, received a distribution. In the Tri-Cities, Battelle once again sponsored the Hanford Food Bank. United Way organizations in King County and the Prosser United Good Neighbors received distributions. Corporate sponsorship went to the March of Dimes' WalkAmerica.